1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing device such as a printer which prints document data acquired from a server by entering reference information corresponding to the document data to be printed through an external device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With the proliferation of the Internet, it has become possible to download document data from a server connected to the Internet, read the document data through the Internet using a browser on a computer, and thereby perform electronic publishing (FIG. 1). Since the document data is once stored in the computer in such a system, the data could potentially be reused electronically. More specifically, the document data might be printed more than once or edited by using editing software by an unknown user. It is therefore difficult to electronically publish valuable document data through the Internet in this kind of system.
There is known another conventional system (FIG. 2) in which a computer transmits a print request X202 including reference information, such as a Uniform Resource Locator (URL), of specific document data to a printer and the printer acquires and prints the document data according to the reference information X203, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Laid-Open No.6-77994. Furthermore, it is possible to prevent the document data from being acquired by other than the printer of the system of FIG. 2 if a server authenticates each printer by using a technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-191402, for example. In other words, it is possible to prevent the computer from pretending to be the printer of the aforementioned system and thereby acquiring the document data. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the document data from being reused according to the system of the Japanese Patent laid-Open No. 6-77994, because the document data is not stored in a user-accessible internal storage medium of the computer, for example.
The latter system is particularly effective for a system in which a computer or a printer is notified of reference information of specific document data, like xe2x80x9cWhat""s Newxe2x80x9d documents, by a server as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent laid-Open No. 10-307792.
In the aforementioned system, however, it is necessary that the reference information of document data transmitted to the printer indicate specific document data. Accordingly, there arises a problem that it is impossible to specify the document data to be printed by the printer if the reference information of the document data is unknown. In other words, the computer must acquire the reference information of a document to be printed and notify the printer of the acquired reference information to cause the printer to print the document. However, document search and print request can not be done by a single operation but done by using search software and print request software which are usually separate programs, so that a user must perform rather complex operations. If it is desired to avoid this complexity, it would be necessary for the user to have a special software program which makes it possible to execute document search and print request instructions by a single operation.
Since the aforementioned server permits access from the computer as it searches through attribute information, complicated computer access control is required. Furthermore, the server""s function of permitting access from the computer in performing the search operation might be abused, and this causes an increased risk of information leakage from inside the server.
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances and provides a system in which a user can enter reference information of a desired document from a computer to a printer, and the printer reads data of the document from a server according to the reference information and performs a predetermined operation, such as data storage or printing, wherein the user is allowed to easily find the reference information (e.g., URL) of the desired document even when the user does not have a special software program. Also, the invention enables a computer of an unspecified user to acquire the reference information of a desired document without allowing access to the server from the computer of the unspecified user.
According to the present invention, an image processing device receives reference information of a desired document from an external device, acquires the document from a server using the reference information and performs a predetermined operation, such as data storage or printing. The image processing device includes a receiving section for receiving a reference information request from the external device, a reference information acquisition section for acquiring the reference information from the server according to the reference information request, and a reference information transmission section for transmitting the reference information acquired by the reference information acquisition section to the external device. With this configuration, the external device can acquire reference information of documents available in the server via a printer. Here, the reference information refers to such information as URL indicating the location (e.g., the site on a network) of the individual documents.
In one aspect of the invention, the image processing device further includes a server designation section for determining the server from which the reference information is to be acquired based on the reference information request received by the receiving section. The reference information acquisition section acquires the reference information according to the reference information request from the server determined by the server designation section. In this configuration, the external device can acquire the reference information from a desired server via the printer.
In another aspect of the invention, the image processing device further includes a server designation information input section which allows entry of information to be used for determining the server based on the reference information request, and a server designation information memory for storing the information entered from the server designation information input section. In this configuration, the server designation section determines the server from which the reference information is to be acquired the reference information request received by the image processing device and the information stored in the server designation information memory.
In still another aspect of the invention, the image processing device further includes a request converter for converting the reference information request received by the receiving section into a predetermined format which can be recognized by the server. The reference information acquisition section sends the reference information request converted by the request converter to the server. In this configuration, the reference information request the image processing device has received from the external device is edited by the image processing device and transmitted to the server and, as a consequence, the server sends back the reference information according to the request.
In yet another aspect of the invention, the image processing device further includes a reference information converter for converting the reference information acquired by the reference information acquisition section into a format which can be displayed by the external device. The reference information transmission section transmits information converted from the reference information by the reference information converter. In this configuration, even when the reference information transmitted from the server is of a format which can not be displayed by the external device, the image processing device can convert it into the format suited for display on the external device.
Preferably, the reference information converter converts the reference information from the server into the information of such format that makes it possible to accept an input by an operator specifying a desired item in the reference information at the external device and transfer the operator input to the image processing device. An example of such format is Common Gateway Interface (CGI) in HyperText Makeup Language (HTML). This makes it possible for the operator to transmit a print request for a document included in the reference information to the image processing device by using commonly available software like a Web browser on the external device.
Alternatively, the reference information converter converts the reference information acquired from the server into such format that enables an operator to enter additional information concerning a printing method of the desired document at the external device. This makes it possible for the operator to transmit a print request for the document included in the reference information to the image processing device by using commonly available software like a Web browser and enter additional instructions concerning the method of printing the document, such as double-sided printing, the number of printouts and stapler treatment, from the external device.
In yet another aspect of the invention, the image processing device further includes an authentication section which enables the server to perform a predetermined authentication operation. With this configuration, it becomes possible to directly access the server or to deny access from an unauthorized image processing device.
The invention also provides a printing system in which reference information indicating the location of a document requested by an operator is sent from a computer manipulated by the operator to a printer, and the printer which has received the reference information acquires the document corresponding to the reference information from a server according to the reference information. The printer includes a reference information acquisition section for acquiring a list of reference information of documents available in the server according to a request from the computer, and a reference information transmission section for transmitting the acquired list of the reference information to the computer. The server sends back the list of the reference information of the documents to the printer in response to a request from the printer.
According to this printing system, the operator can locate the desired document and print it by just accessing the printer.
In another aspect of the invention, the server further includes a section for determining whether the request for the list of the reference information was issued by a previously registered printer when the request has been received, wherein the server accepts the request only from the previously registered printer. This configuration serves to increase the security of the server.
The invention further provides a method of printing a desired document available in a server by using a printer selected by a user according to a command from a computer which is manipulated by the user. The method includes the steps of (a) causing the computer to send a list acquisition request to the user-selected printer requesting it to acquire a list of reference information of documents available in the server, (b) causing the printer to send a list transmission request to the server requesting it to send back the list of the reference information of the documents in accordance with the list acquisition request, (c) causing the server to send back the list of the reference information of the documents available in the server to the printer in accordance with the list transmission request, (d) causing the printer to send data on the list of the reference information received from the server to the computer, (e) causing the computer to present a selection entry display based on the data on the list of the reference information received from the printer, enabling the user to specify the desired document, (f) causing the computer to send a print request to the printer, the print request including the reference information of the document specified by the user on the selection entry display, and (g) causing the printer to acquire data on the user-specified document from the server based on the reference information included in the print request and print out the document.